Serra. CXXXIII. different Ends ofgoodandbadMen. 207 lure andGreedinefs? What a Terror is the Almighty to him, and the Apprehen- fion of that Vengeance that threatenshim, and that eternal Mifery which is ready to ['wallow him up ? And in the midit of all this Anguifh and Horror, which na- turally fpring from an evil Confcience, and the Guilt ofa wicked Life, he is de- ftitute of all Comfort and Hope ; he bath denied theGod that is above, and now he dares not look up to him : His whole Life hath been a continued Affront of the Divine Majefty, and an infolent Defiance of his )ufike; and what Hopes can he now reafonably have of his Mercy ? Of the God that formed him, he bath been unmindfrl, and bath pled him with all the Defpite he could and therefore he bath all the Reafon in the World to conclude, that he that made him will not lave him, and he that formed him will have no Mercy on him. And this is the natural Confequenceof Impiety and Wickednefs, it fills the Soul of a dying Sinner with Trouble and Anguith, with Guilt and Defpair, when he is leaving the World, and puts him into the molt difmal Condition that can be imagin'd on this fide Hell, and very like to it, without Comfort, and without Hope. I proceed to the Thirdand laß Thing I propofed, viz. That if this be true, it is a Demonffra- tion on, the Side of Religion, and Both fully juftify and acquit the Wifdom of it, and that upon thefe three Accounts : I. Becaufe the Principles of Religion, and. the Pra&ice of them in a virtuous Life, when they come to the Taft and utmoft Trial, do hold out, and are a firm and unfhaken Foundation of Peace and Comfort to us. II. That they minifterComfort tous in the moft needful and defirable Time. III. That when Men are commonly more ferions, and fober, and impartial, and when their Declarations andWords are thought tobe of greateft Weight and Credit, they give this Teftimony to Religion and Virtue, and againft Impiety and Vice. I. That ThePrinciples of Religion, and the Pra&ice of them in a virtuous Life, when they come to the laft and utmoft Trial, do hold out, and area firm and unlhaken Foundation of Peace and Comfort to good Men, at,that Time. The Be- lief of a God, and of his Providence and Care of good Men, and that he is a Re- warder of them that diligently feel¿ him ; the Perfwafion of our own Immortality, and of the eternal Recompence of another World ; that Jelin' Chrifi came into the World to fave Sinners, and to purchafe eternal Life and Happinefs for thole, who by patient Continuance in Well - doing, leek for Glory, and Honour, and Immortality : I. fay, the Belief of there Things, is commonly moft ttrong and vigorous in the Minds ofgood Men, when they come todie ; and they have then amore clear Apprehenfion, and firm Perfwafion of the Truth and Reality of there Things, than ever they had in any Time of their Lives, and find more Comfort from them, more Peaee and Joy in the Belief of them. And thissis thegreat Time of Trial, when Death prefents it felf to us, and the Terrors of it compafs us about, whether upon Occalion of Perfecution or Sicknefs. There are the Ràins, and Storms, and Winds, which will try upon what Foundationour Peace and Comfort is built ; and nothing but the Principlesof Religion, fncerelybelieved and prat-ti- fed, will make us firm and impregnable againft there Aflaults. So our Saviour afTures us, Mat. 7. 24, 25. Whosoever heareth theft Sayings of mine, and doth them ; that is, believes and pra&ifethmy Do&rine, I will liken him to a wife Man, which built his upon a Rock, and the Rain defended, and the Floods came, and the Winds blew, and beat upon that Houle, and it fellnot, for it wasfounded upon a Rock. And on the contrary, the Principles of Infidelity and Vice, are moft apt to (brink and give back at fuck a Time : Nay, for the moft Part they vanifh and difappear, and upon the Apprehenfion of Death, a new Light as it were fprings up in their Minds, and Things appear quite contrary to tdat Scheme which they had formed, and which they had taken.fo much Pains to maintain and.make pro- bable to themfelves ; and that Hypothefis which they had been fo long a build- ing, appears now to have no Foundation, and falls at once, and all their Hopes together with it. And now the Infidel believes and trembles, is fenfible of his wicked Life, and of the Vengeance that hangs over him, and was never in his Life half fo well latisfled of the Principles of Infidelity, as he is, now convinc'd of
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